AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn women's basketball team is back inside Auburn Arena Sunday afternoon as they play host to the Missouri Tigers. Game time is set for 2 p.m. CT.
Tickets are available at AuburnTigers.com and also at the arena ticket office on gameday. All tickets are $6 and good for general admission in the 100 level of the arena. All persons inside Auburn Arena must wear face coverings and practice appropriate social distancing; for more gameday information, visit the women's basketball gameday page at AuburnTigers.com.
Auburn (5-6, 0-3) looks to get back on the winning track after dropping a heartbreaker at Ole Miss Thursday night. Missouri (4-3, 0-2) also seeks its first SEC win; they last played a week ago at Arkansas, dropping a 91-88 shootout.
For the latest on Auburn women's basketball, follow @AuburnWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio call beginning at 1:45 p.m. CT. The game can be heard locally on WQSI 93.9 FM and online at AuburnTigers.com and the official Auburn Tigers app.
›› Sunday's game can be seen on SEC Network + with Brad Law and Joe Ciampi on the call. SEC Network + is available at WatchESPN.com or the ESPN app.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Auburn sophomore Honesty Scott-Grayson scored a career-high 23 points, but the Tigers' best effort so far in SEC play came up just short in a 62-58 loss at Ole Miss Thursday night.
›› The Tigers trailed by as many as 12 points late in the third quarter, but opened the fourth on a 7-0 run and got within two in the final minute of the game. But Ole Miss made a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to secure the victory.
›› Scott-Grayson was 9-of-16 from the field and hit three times from 3-point range; she also led the Tigers with five rebounds and shared the team lead with three steals. Romi Levy added 13 points, and Morgan Robinson-Nwagwu equaled Scott-Grayson's steals total with three of her own.
›› As a team, Auburn shot 41.8 percent (23-55) and was 6-of-21 from 3-point range (28.6%). But the fourth quarter saw the Tigers hit 8-of-12 shots as they nearly completed the comeback. Ole Miss outrebounded Auburn 34-28, but the Tigers turned 19 Rebel turnovers into 17 points, their best showing in the turnover department in SEC play.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Snap a four-game losing streak.
›› Be Auburn's third straight win over Missouri.
›› Be the Tigers' 99th all-time win inside Auburn Arena.
AUBURN-MISSOURI SERIES
›› Auburn is 6-7 all-time against Missouri with the series tied 3-3 on The Plains. Auburn earned a 58-54 win in 2019 in the teams' last meeting at Auburn Arena.
LAST MEETING: Feb. 27, 2020 in Columbia
Auburn 95, Missouri 82
›› Unique Thompson set the Auburn career record with her 41st double-double, three players finished with 20-plus points, and Auburn got its first road SEC win of the season with a 95-82 victory at Missouri.
›› Auburn used a blistering third quarter, hitting their first 10 shots of the period, to pull ahead to as much as an 18-point lead, and Missouri would get no closer than seven points the rest of the way. The Tigers' 34 points in the third quarter was a school record for a single period, and Auburn's 95 points on the night were its most in an SEC game since 1990.
›› Thompson finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds to get her 21st double-double of the season and the 41st of her career, passing DeWanna Bonner for the all-time Auburn lead. Lauretta Freeman owns the single-season mark with 23.
›› Daisa Alexander was 7-of-9 from the floor for 21 points to go along with six assists.As a team, Auburn shot a season-high 59 percent (35-59) and hit 9-of-23 3-pointers (39.1%). The Tigers forced Mizzou into 20 turnovers, converting those into a season-high 28 points. Auburn also out-rebounded Missouri 35-25.
SCOUTING MISSOURI
›› Missouri is 4-3 overall and 0-2 in SEC play. The Tigers have wins over North Alabama, New Orleans, Southern Illinois and Oral Roberts to their credit with losses to Missouri State, Alabama and Arkansas.
›› Mizzou has the top field goal percentage in the SEC, shooting 51.8% from the field. They average 78.9 points/game while holding opponents to 64.6.
›› Aijha Blackwell leads Mizzou with 15.1 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Senior forward Unique Thompson leads the nation with 15.3 rebounds per game this year and leads Auburn with 18.8 points/game. She is also the national leader in double-doubles with seven. Thompson pulled down her 1,000th career rebound against Belmont on Dec. 20 and is the only active player nationally with over 1,000 career rebounds. An honorable-mention All-American and first-team All-SEC performer a year ago, Thompson is Auburn's lone returning starter. She averaged a double-double for the second straight year in 2020 with 16.2 points and 11.4 rebounds, leading Auburn in both categories.
›› Thompson has been unavailable the last three games due to medical issues, but is expected to return vs. Missouri.
›› Two redshirt sophomore transfers that sat out last season are making an immediate impact. Honesty Scott-Grayson (Baylor) and Jala Jordan (West Virginia) have both earned significant minutes through the first several games. Scott-Grayson has started all 11 games and had a career-high 23 points at Ole Miss, 18 points vs. Belmont, 16 points against both SFA and North Florida, and 14 points, 7 rebounds and 5 steals vs. Gardner-Webb. Jordan is Auburn's third-leading scorer with 8.1 points/game; she's also the Tigers' second-leading rebounder (4.0/game) and leading shot-blocker (0.9/game)
›› Four other returners saw game action for Auburn last season: redshirt junior Kiyae' White and sophomores Annie Hughes, Morgan Robinson-Nwagwu and Sania Wells. Hughes scored a career-high 17 points against North Florida and has started seven games. Wells and Robinson-Nwagwu played significant minutes in the opener; Robinson-Nwagwu had a career-high four steals and matched career-highs with 6 points and 4 rebounds. She also had a career-high 6 steals at Ole Miss. Wells scored a career-high 11 points in the win over South Alabama and made her first career start at LSU.
ALL THE NEW FACES
›› Of the 15 players on the roster, 10 of them wore an Auburn uniform for the first time in game action vs. USC Upstate. All 10 newcomers saw the floor in the Tigers' 82-41 win on Nov. 25 and again vs. Gardner-Webb on Dec. 1.
›› Auburn added three junior college transfers during the offseason, including two NJCAA All-Americans:
›› Kira Lowery came to Auburn from Dyersburg State CC (Tenn.) where she ranked third in the nation in scoring (23.3 ppg) and second in steals (4.0/game) and was an NJCAA All-American in 2020. Lowery has started eight games at PG and leads Auburn with 1.8 assists/game.
›› Keya Patton was a two-time All-American at Wabash Valley College (Ill.), where she scored over 1,000 points in two seasons and averaged 20.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 6.4 steals as a sophomore. She scored a season-best 14 points vs. Gardner-Webb (12/1) and made her first Auburn start vs. Georgia (1/3).
›› Alycia Reese joins the Tigers from just down the road at Chattahoochee Valley CC in Phenix City, where she led the team with 12.8 points/game last season. Reese scored 10 points and hit Auburn's only two 3-pointers at Houston (12/5).
›› Sophomore Alaina Rice joined the Tigers in June after transferring from Florida A&M. Rice was MEAC Rookie of the Year in 2020 at FAMU where she averaged 10.3 points and 4.7 rebounds. Rice led Auburn with 5 assists in the season-opener and scored 9 points vs. North Florida.
›› The Tigers signed two freshmen during the offeseason: Romi Levy (6-2, F, Herzliya, Israel) and Aicha Coulibaly (6-0, F/G, Mali). Two others joined Auburn as walk-ons: Riley Donahue (5-10, G, Atlanta, Ga.) and Carsen McFadden (5-7, G, Fairview, Texas). Coulibaly started the first four games; Levy is averaging 6.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.4 steals. McFadden played significant minutes in the win over South Alabama, sharing the team lead with three assists.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn hosts No. 10 Kentucky Thursday night. Game time is 7:30 p.m. CT with a national broadcast on SEC Network.
Auburn women host Missouri Sunday
